SEC Tournament 2016: Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

A bizarre year in the conference will make the 2016 SEC tournament as intriguing as ever.

Kentucky once again finished near the top of the standings, splitting the regular-season title with Texas A&M and beginning as the No. 2 seed (but favorite) in the league tourney. This wasn't all that strange considering the Wildcats are usually among the top contenders in the conference.

On the other hand, the rest of the league has been filled with nothing but confusion. Outside of Kentucky and Texas A&M, no one is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament. However, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Florida, Alabama and even LSU have a chance to earn an at-large bid if things go right in Nashville, Tennessee.

It seems like the entire conference season was filled with inconsistency and strange outcomes, which probably won't stop now that we are in March. Make sure you follow all the action so you don't miss a potentially memorable moment from Bridgestone Arena.

Schedule

Date	Game No.	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
March 9	1	No. 12 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Auburn	8 p.m.	SEC Network
March 10	2	No. 8 Florida vs. No. 9 Arkansas	1 p.m.	SEC Network
March 10	3	No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. Game 1 winner	3 p.m.	SEC Network
March 10	4	No. 7 Ole Miss vs. No. 10 Alabama	7 p.m.	SEC Network
March 10	5	No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 11 Mississippi State	9 p.m.	SEC Network
March 11	6	No. 1 Texas A&M vs. Game 2 winner	1 p.m.	SEC Network
March 11	7	No. 4 LSU vs. Game 3 winner	3 p.m.	SEC Network
March 11	8	No. 2 Kentucky vs. Game 4 winner	7 p.m.	SEC Network
March 11	9	No. 3 South Carolina vs. Game 5 winner	9 p.m.	SEC Network
March 12	10	Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner	1 p.m.	ESPN
March 12	11	Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner	3 p.m.	ESPN
March 13	12	Championship Game	1 p.m.	ESPN

Bracket

Odds

Team	Odds
Kentucky	+130
Vanderbilt	+300
Texas A&M	+450
South Carolina	+800
Florida	+900
LSU	+1200
Arkansas	+2500
Mississippi	+3300
Field	+2500

Preview

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Almost every game in this tournament will have some sort of NCAA tournament implications, whether for seeding or getting an at-large bid (except for Tennessee vs. Auburn, which means you can start watching Thursday). 

The biggest story with the league down the stretch has been the inability of quality teams to take advantage of their opportunities. Clay Travis of Fox Sports 1 broke down the situation:

Alabama won five games in a row in February to get onto the right side of the bubble but ended up losing four of its last five. Florida struggled just as much with only a win over lowly Missouri preventing a five-game losing streak to end the regular season.

LSU seemed like it would be a real contender at the start of the season, but the questionable play of superstar Ben Simmons led to a disappointing year. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress broke down his thoughts on the projected No. 1 NBA draft pick:

Even South Carolina has struggled lately with losses to Georgia and Mississippi State over the final couple of weeks.

Unlike these other teams, however, Vanderbilt ended the year strong with four wins in the last five games, including victories over Kentucky and at Florida. There were some disappointing defeats earlier in the season, but the Commodores finally came together to peak at the right time. With Wade Baldwin IV and Damian Jones playing at a high level, this team will not be easy to beat in March.

With that said, any of the listed teams still have a chance to get to the NCAA tournament with a strong run in the SEC. It's also important to remember that winning the title ends all doubts with a guaranteed trip to the Big Dance.

While all these teams can make things interesting, Kentucky and Texas A&M are the true favorites this week.

As usual, the Wildcats are extremely talented, having high recruits and future NBA stars. The strength comes from the backcourt tandem of Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray, who put themselves in school history with their outstanding numbers this season, according to Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio:

They have been even better in conference play, combining for 40.7 points per game while Ulis is averaging 8.4 assists per game against SEC opponents. Head coach John Calipari had high praise for his team leader, per Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal:

Although the frontcourt has been inconsistent, Marcus Lee, Alex Poythress and others can defend and rebound while doing just enough offensively to put the Wildcats over the top.

However, Texas A&M will not go down without a fight. The Aggies have one of the most experienced teams in the country with four senior starters who all contribute in different ways. Jalen Jones and Danuel House (both 6'7") are dangerous weapons at the two forward spots, and they can use their length and athleticism to score against just about anyone. With freshman Tyler Davis making plays in the post, this team has everything one needs to be successful.

After a weird midseason stretch where they lost five conference games in a row, the Aggies got back on track and now seem like a real threat to win the league tournament championship.

Then again, considering Kentucky has losses to the two lowest-seeded teams in this field and Texas A&M has a few slip-ups as well, anything can happen at this highly anticipated event.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for year-round sports analysis.